1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to information processing and, more particularly, is directed to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method utilizing a character recognition function and which can, for example, be applied to a very small portable computer having a touch pen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Information processing apparatus, in the form of very small computers or the like, is becoming increasingly popular. This kind of information processing apparatus typically has a simple word processing function and an information processing function utilizing a touch pen to write, store and read personal information such as that equivalent to an address book involving telephone numbers and further information such as a diary.
In order to make this information processing apparatus more versatile, it has been proposed for the apparatus to be provided with a user hand-written character dictionary function in addition to a pattern recognition function for recognizing a hand-written pattern prepared by the manufacturer and a user input pattern. According to the user hand-written character dictionary function, simplified strokes related to the writing habits of a writer are registered beforehand in the user hand-written character dictionary and then the registered hand-written strokes and the simplified hand-written strokes which can be input with ease are recognized by means of a pattern recognition technique. In accordance with this pattern recognition, the corresponding character is read out and an image of the read-out character can be displayed.
Such information processing apparatus having a user character dictionary function has previously been proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 1-307275, filed in the name of the assignee of the present application. This previously-proposed apparatus is provided with a character recognition learning function means mainly formed of a data base in which a character recognition dictionary is generated from the writer's hand-written strokes and stored.
However, the above previously-proposed character recognition apparatus is relatively large in scale and cannot be applied to a very small portable computer without difficulty.
In small computers or the like for Japanese use, when the user character dictionary is formed, JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) kanji codes are input by using ten keys or by using a touch pen or the like. In that case, a kanji code table stored in a document or in suitable apparatus becomes necessary, the use of which is troublesome. When hand-written strokes are then registered in the user hand-written character dictionary, it becomes necessary to determine whether or not a desired hand-written stroke is registered. In that case, a known echo back means (re-image display) may be utilized, and when such echo back means is not utilized, it is very difficult to determine whether or not the registered hand-written stroke is input correctly and in the prescribed writing order required by the recognition process; for example, it may be very difficult to determine whether or not the hand-written character is written in fluent form. In present-day small computers, when the user hand-written dictionary is formed, the registration of hand-written characters is not easy and the operation lacks reliability. Accordingly, in the above-mentioned small computer, there is the disadvantage that the editing of data cannot be performed reliably.